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The Celebic languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, formerly called Celebes. Almost all of the languages spoken in the provinces of Central Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi belong to the Celebic group. A few Celebic languages (e.g. Wotu, Bonerate) are located in South Sulawesi province. By number of languages (but not by number of speakers), Celebic is the largest subgroup of Austronesian languages on Sulawesi.

Subgrouping

Internal classification

David Mead (2003a:125) classifies the Celebic languages as follows.

• Celebic
  • Tomini–Tolitoli
  • Kaili–Pamona
  • Wotu–Wolio
  • Eastern
    • Saluan–Banggai
    • Southeastern
      • Bungku–Tolaki
      • Muna–Buton

More recently, Zobel (2020) proposed that Kaili–Pamona and Wotu–Wolio form a Kaili–Wolio group, which Zobel places as a primary subgroup of Celebic. Furthermore, in Zobel's (2020) classification, Kaili–Wolio is placed as a sister to group to Tominic–Eastern Celebic, which contains Mead's (2003) Tomini–Tolitoli and Eastern Celebic groups.

Position within Austronesian

At the current state of research, the Celebic languages are considered to make up a primary branch of the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup within the Austronesian language family.

Proto-Celebic

David Mead (2003a:125) lists the following sound changes for Proto-Celebic and its subgroups.

1. Proto-Malayo-Polynesian to Proto-Celebic
   • *C₁C₂ > *C₂ (C₁ not nasal)
   • *h > Ø
   • *d > *r
   • *ay, *-ey > *e
   • *-aw, *-ew > *o
   • *j > *y, Ø
2. Proto-Celebic to Proto-Eastern Celebic
   • *e (schwa) > *o
   • *-iq > *eq
   • antepenultimate *a > *o
3. Proto-Eastern Celebic to Proto-Saluan–Banggai
   • *-awa- > *oa
   • *-b, *-g > *p, *k
   • *q > *ʔ
4. Proto-Eastern Celebic to Proto-Southeastern Celebic
   • *-w- > Ø
   • *s > *s, *h
   • *Z > *s
   • *ñ > n
   • *b > *b, *w
5. Proto-Southeastern Celebic to Proto-Bungku–Tolaki
   • *q > *ʔ
   • *w- > *h
   • *ʀ > Ø initially and contiguous to *i
6. Proto-Southeastern Celebic to Proto-Muna–Buton
   • *w > Ø
   • final consonant loss (?)

See also

• Languages of Sulawesi
• South Sulawesi languages

References

1. ^ Mead, David (2003a). "Evidence for a Celebic supergroup" (PDF). In Lynch, John (ed.). Issues in Austronesian historical phonology. Pacific Linguistics 550. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. pp. 115–141.
2. Mead, David (2003b). "The Saluan-Banggai microgroup of eastern Sulawesi" (PDF). In Lynch, John (ed.). Issues in Austronesian historical phonology. Pacific Linguistics 550. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. pp. 65–86.
3. Zobel, Erik (2020). "The Kaili–Wolio Branch of the Celebic Languages". Oceanic Linguistics. 59 (1/2). University of Hawai'i Press: 297–346. doi:10.1353/ol.2020.0014.
4. Smith, Alexander D. (2017). "The Western Malayo-Polynesian Problem". Oceanic Linguistics. 56 (2): 435–490. doi:10.1353/ol.2017.0021.

External links

• Celebic languages at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019).
• Classification of Sulawesi languages

• Celebic languages
• Malayo-Polynesian languages